Posted on 04/15/2008 8:34:19 PM PDT by blam
Vitamin pills 'increase risk of early death'
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 16/04/2008
Popular vitamin supplements taken by millions of people in the hope of improving their health may do no good and could increase the risk of a premature death, researchers report today.
They warn healthy people who take antioxidant supplements, including vitamins A and E, to try to keep diseases such as cancer at bay that they are interfering with their natural body defences and may be increasing their risk of an early death by up to 16 per cent.
Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, and C are said to mop up free radicals, which cause disease
Researchers at Copenhagen University carried out a review of 67 studies on 230,000 healthy people and found "no convincing evidence" that any of the antioxidants helped to prolong life expectancy. But some "increased mortality".
About 12 million Britons supplement their diets with vitamins and the industry is worth £330 million. But little research has been done on the long-term health implications.
The Department of Health said yesterday that people should try to get the vitamins they need by eating a balanced diet and advised care in taking large doses of supplements.
A spokesman said: "There is a need to exercise caution in the use of high doses of purified supplements of vitamins, including antioxidant vitamins, and minerals. Their impact on long-term health may not have been fully established and they cannot be assumed to be without risk.
"Anyone concerned about their diet should speak to their doctor or dietitian."
Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, C and beta-carotene and selenium, are said to mop up compounds, called free radicals, which cause disease. It is this action that researchers believe may cause problems with the defence system.
The Danish research, released by the influential Cochrane Library, applied only to synthetic supplements and not to vitamins that occur naturally in vegetables and fruit.
It found that vitamin A supplements increased the risk of death in healthy people by 16 per cent. Taking beta-carotene was linked to a 7 per cent increased risk, while regular users of vitamin E supplements increased the risk of an early death by four per cent.
Although the review found no significant detrimental effect caused by vitamin C, it found no evidence that it helped ward off disease. Millions take it in the hope of avoiding a common cold.
Goran Bjelakovic, who led the review, said: "We could find no evidence to support taking antioxidant supplements to reduce the risk of dying earlier in healthy people or patients with various diseases.
"If anything, people in trial groups given the antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E showed increased rates of mortality."
But Patrick Holford, a nutritionist who has formulated supplements for the company Biocare, said: "Antioxidants are not meant to be magic bullets and should not be expected to undo a lifetime of unhealthy habits.
"When used properly, in combination with a healthy diet full of fruit and vegetables, getting plenty of exercise and not smoking, antioxidant supplements can play an important role in maintaining and promoting overall health."
A spokesman for the Health Supplements Information Service said: "People should get all the vitamins and minerals they need from their diet, but for the millions who are not able to do that, vitamins can be a useful supplement and they should not stop taking them."
However, Catherine Collins, of the British Dietetic Association, said: "This study is deeply worrying and shows that there should be more regulation for vitamins and minerals.
"The public can buy vitamins as easily as sweets. They should be treated in the same way as paracetamol with maximum limits on the dosage."
hey, I got “Private mail”, ya know :>)
Not so! ... What would we aging men have for companions if our women didn’t age also? ‘Thank heavens, for aging girls, they settle-in in such delightful ways. Thank heavens for aging girls ...’ [In best Maurice Chevalier accent]
Nice rant!
I think it could have something to do with their government wanting to regulate supplements, too.
And the youngsters will say... who?
Of course, you could type in “Jenny Agutter” and “Equus” into GoogleImages and you’ll get a REAL eyeful.
Not while I am at work, I won’t :>)
That’s why you’re supposed to trade them in. ;-D
Ooops.
Try 6 oz apple juice, a cored apple cut in chunks with the skin left on, tablespoon of peanut butter, the raw one-minute oats, and 1/4 cup of soy milk, blended with four ice cubes. Delicious! And healthy, too!
That's how I know I'm supposed to eat it every day! (2-3 times a day when possible)
I would have thought that the corn chips wouldn’t be so great for diverticulitis since they’re not that easy to digest, and that the salsa would be irritating. But what do I know? Hey, whatever works, I guess!
Well, you can give those younger models a drive, but when it comes to livin’, high maintenance has never seemed attractive to me. but then I drive an extended cab F-150 4x4 pickup that’s got over 65,000 miles on it, so whadda I know?
My gastro doc did the before and after colonescopes and swears I traded colons with someone before the second scope ‘cause the irritations he biopsied the first trip in were gone, completely ‘pinked out’. BTW, I make my own corn chips by breaking up taco shells. Way less oil in processing.
BINGO!!!!!
My cure for psoriasis of the finger nails was more dramatic.
To each his own, I guess... :-P
I figured it was the diet pills.
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